A Different Story
by Peifmaster
Summary: A slightly different Kirito deals with the death game that is SAO. Along the way, he picks up a following of girls who adventure with and fight beside him. Kirito x harem.
1. Link Start

SAO A Different Story

A slightly different Kirito deals with the death game that is SAO. Along the way, he picks up a following of girls who adventure with and fight beside him. Kirito x harem.

AN: Relatively AU in regards to a few characters. Sinon and Yuuki will make an appearance in SAO because I want them to be in the story from the beginning. The story is Kirito x harem, but as they are all still young teens, don't expect anything much from that department until much later. The majority of the early story will be sped through, mostly as observations from Kirito. The story will slow down in a few chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own SAO, wish I did.

* * *

 **A Different Story**

 **Chapter 1- Link Start**

Kirito stared up at the sky as the oversized avatar of Kayaba Akihiko vanished into the ether. He was understandably upset. He had been looking forward to experiencing in person the massive leap forward in both programing and gaming that was Sword Art Online, but it ended up being a whole lot more than he expected. He elbowed Klein, who was still standing next to him, and took off for the city's exit gate. When he was halfway there, he slowed to a stop and addressed Klein.

"We need to get to the next town, before the others start making their way there. All of the good mob spawns and quests will run dry around the starting town, so we should head straight to the second town. I know the quickest and safest way to get there."

Klein looked indecisive, and Kirito was soon informed why. "I dunno, Kirito. I can't just up and leave my friends. We all waited in line together to get this game, and I won't abandon them."

Kirito didn't want to have more people slowing him down. He could probably make it with three of them, but four would be pushing the limit, and more than that was all but impossible. More players with them would mean more mobs would spawn, and things were dangerous enough in the fields at night. Klein saved Kirito the trouble of finding a solution by speaking up again.

"It's alright, you've already helped me out a bunch, I can't expect you to hold back just for me. Go off and do what you need to, I'll find my friends and we'll survive this thing together. But don't you die, you hear me? I expect to see you again Kirito," Klein said with a smirk.

Kirito smiled in return, and added Klein to his friends list before taking off for the next town.

* * *

Slinking through the forest, Kirito spotted another Little Nepent, this one with a red flower on its head. He quickly dashed up to it and slashed through it, marking his third acquired Little Nepent's Ovule. Kirito had spent much of the morning trudging through the forest and slaying the plant creatures left and right. Truthfully, he could have stopped hours ago after acquiring just one, which would have been enough for him to get an Anneal Blade from the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest. But just doing the minimum was not how Kirito did things. The second and third ovules were part of a deal that Kirito had made with his favorite-read _only_ \- information broker, Argo- more commonly known as Argo the Rat.

She had messaged Kirito the first night, knowing he would most likely run off early on. She had been the only player he had added to his friends list during the Beta, and it turned out that since Argo was also a Beta tester, she carried over onto his friends list. Argo had offered him a deal that was too good to pass up: in return for bringing her two Little Nepent Ovules, she would use one to acquire him a second Anneal Blade. She was more than well compensated, as the second ovule would sell for a high price. The offer was a no-brainer. As each player could only do the quest once, he should only be able to acquire one of the powerful (for the first few floors) swords. But Argo used claws and throwing weapons during the Beta, and thus was willing to give Kirito her quest reward as long as he made it worth her while.

Kirito was brought out of his thoughts as he saw another person enter the clearing. Kirito realized he had been so focused on the enemy mob that he failed to notice as one player and several more Little Nepents filled the small clearing. Kirito watched a bit detachedly as the player struck one of the fruit bearing plants and summoned a swarm of Little Nepents. Kirito didn't have time to contemplate the fact that someone it appeared players were already trying to kill each other; the rapidly growing sea of green around him demanded his attention. Thinking fast as he watched the player who was attempting to MPK him dive into a bush, Kirito ran past several mobs and to a relatively tall tree. He ran up as far as he could and drove his sword into the trunk. Kirito was quite thankful that this trick form the Beta still worked as the swarm rushed by harmlessly beneath him. Kirito had managed to avoid an almost certain death. His would-be killer wasn't so lucky. Kirito shivered as the player's death screams filled the air.

It took nearly forty minutes for the swarm of Little Nepents to disperse. Kirito dispatched the few stragglers and walked over to the bushes where the MPKer had died. There was a small cloth bag on the ground that opened a pop-up when Kirito touched it. Coper's Remains was the title of the window, informing Kirito as to the identity of his attempted murderer. Among the items remaining were a few hundred Col and some healing potions, as well as miscellaneous crafting materials. Kirito surmised that it was another Beta tester who had tried to kill him, as only a fellow Beta player would know of this quest and be out here already.

As Kirito trekked his way back to the village to speak to the quest npc and a waiting Argo, he reflected that he didn't feel as bad as he should have with Coper's demise. Coper had tried to kill him, and had failed. Kirito understood that it was either himself or the murderous player, and easily made peace with himself. It's not like he did anything to hasten his death in any event. He had just climbed a tree as Coper's actions backfired upon him.

In another life, Kirito may have felt guilty about the death of another player, or even at the fact that he couldn't save everybody who was trapped in this death game. This Kirito didn't have such thoughts. The Kirigaya Kazuto of this world had read far too much when he was younger. Novels about wars of epic scales, books where the anti-hero rained destruction on the world; Kazuto had come to realize that in the grand scheme of things, lives were just drops of water in a vast ocean. His thinking followed similar paths as the ancient Greek gods; the few loved ones or favorite people that he had would be protected and valued, but the majority of people were unimportant to him. If seen by a psychiatrist, they would probably have quite a bit to say about him. Kazuto was fully aware of that, but didn't rightly care. He had kendo, he had his computers and video games, and he had his family and a friend or two. Other than the items on that list, he didn't care about much.

Kirito was almost back to the village Secret Medicine of the Forest quest was located. He was truly thankful to Argo for offering him such a good deal. Being his friend from the Beta, she was the only player who knew why he needed a second sword for anything other than a backup.

 _Flashback_

 _Kirigaya Kazuto grunted as he took another hit to his right arm, dropping his bamboo sword as he felt intense pain along his forearm. The sharp *crack* that had echoed throughout the dojo appeared to have been from more than just the impact of bamboo on skin. As he dropped to his knees and clutched his arm to his chest, His grandfather stalked over._

" _Pathetic," the aged man said. "I will say it again, boy; you lack what it takes to truly succeed in the art. Stop wasting my time."_

 _Kazuto stared the old man in the eyes, teeth clenched in both anger and pain. It was always the same with his grandfather, he could never satisfy him. Even training daily and lasting significantly longer in a spar than he had when he started hadn't changed the way he was treated. But Kirito refused to give up. AS he stood back up, his grandfather gave him a disdainful look._

" _What do you plan to do, hmm? You can't even use your arm anymore."_

" _Then I'll just use the other one," he replied in monotone, none of his anger leaking out. Showing anything but passive stoicism just earned him beating, as he had learned early on._

 _His grandfather just gave him a dismissive wave and walked off._

 _The next morning found the boy swinging a shinai awkwardly with his left hand, while his right arm was in a cast. His grandfather didn't acknowledge anything as being different, and training continued as if one of the sparrers wasn't suffering from a temporary handicap._

'At least it taught me to be ambidextrous', Kirito thought to himself as he arrived at the house where his current quest started from. His whole purpose for gaining a second Anneal Blade was so that he could dual wield. While not an explicitly stated skill in the game, it was possible to use two weapons at once, but the trade-off was the lack of system assist with most attacks.

He entered the building to see a short girl with auburn hair and whisker marks sitting to the side of the room, her hands swiping at the air. Upon seeing him, she stopped firing off messages long enough to ask, "What took you so long Ki-bou?" before going back to her work.

"An MPKer tried to get me with a swarm of Little Nepents, and I had to wait until the swarm dispersed before I could leave," he replied while opening a trade menu.

Argo accepted the trade, then stood and said, "Well, whoever they are should've known better than mess with my Ki-bou!" she stated with a teasing grin as she jumped and glomped him.

Kirito gave off a tired sigh at her antics, before leading Argo upstairs to acquire their Anneal Blades. Argo sent him her blade through the trade menu, before leaving with a "Don't be a stranger, Ki-bou!" as she was off to some other meeting or errand. Kirito couldn't recall a time during the Beta where she wasn't busy doing something or other, and it seemed she was only working harder now that they were stuck in Aincrad.

Kirito shook his head at his friend's antics as he left the house.

* * *

Kirito wondered how he had gotten himself into this situation. It had all started when he stopped to talk with a hooded figure in the Labyrinth, and now his quiet apartment had been invaded by a trio of girls.

It had started innocently enough; he had simply tried to talk another player out of their depression. The player had been grinding in the dungeon for almost four days, and was asleep on their feet. Kirito had provided a healing potion to the player, and then said his goodbyes and headed back to town. Then he had visited to blacksmith to get his Anneal Blades upgraded, as he now had enough materials to get the pair upgraded to his liking. He was almost home free when his least favorite stalker- ahem, information broker, appeared out of nowhere.

"Oh Ki-bou! I just heard the most interesting little thing. Do you wanna hear?" Argo said with a certain edge to her words that made Kirito shiver. He had a not insignificant feeling of dread that suddenly overcame him. Before he could reply, the girl continued.

"Do you remember that house from the Beta? The one with the _Bath_?" The way she said the word made the mundane object sound as if it was a holy object. "I tried to rent it, but it was already taken. I would have thought that nobody was aware that little place even existed. But then when I go to check up on my best customer, I learn that someone saw him exiting that apartment this morning. You wouldn't be holding out on Argo-chan now, would you?"

Her eyes glinted in a dangerous way, one which promised violence against him if he answered poorly. Again before he could reply, he sensed another presence approaching from behind. He glanced over his shoulder to see the blacksmith, who was also female, approaching with the same evil glint in her eyes as Argo. He then glanced left, and saw the player from earlier had her hood down and was approaching him as well. He gulped audibly, and resisted the urge to run as fast as his stats could carry him.

And now he lay here on his bed, listening to the sounds of running water and groans of satisfaction coming from his bathroom. The girls had practically dragged him back to his apartment before throwing him onto the bed and racing off into the master bathroom. If the way Argo and the girls had been whispering was any indication, they planned to appropriate a large portion of his residence for their own use, which included the bath. Kirito couldn't bring himself to put up a fight. Argo was one of his very few friends, and even then he had never been able to say no to her. To have her alternating usage of the evil glare and puppy dog eyes be joined by two more girls proved his undoing. His sister, cousin really, had used that ability on him countless times, and she had no shame in abusing her power over him.

Back in the real world, a teen with her head laid on the hospital bed of her newly revealed-to-be cousin sneezed in her sleep, before shifting to get comfortable and resuming her nap alongside her beloved onii-chan.

* * *

Kirito looked around the amphitheater at the gathered players. A group of scouts had discovered the Boss Room for the 1st floor, and several of the stronger players had set up a raid meeting. The player who called the meeting, Diavel, had just suggested that players form parties. Asuna, Argo, and Lisbeth just shot shim a collection of smug looks, before resuming their conversation about different weapon types. Kirito gave a long, suffering sigh. Most guys wouldn't understand why he was complaining about his situation. He had three admittedly cute girls staying in his apartment and joining as members of his party. The fact that he had been relegated to the couch and the girls had strong-armed him into even starting a party for them to join was overlooked by the majority of observers.

But Kirito had to admit, the company was somewhat enjoyable. Having been a loner so long he had all but forgotten the pleasant sounds of background conversation and the quiet assurance of companions around oneself.

Kirito stood and motioned to the girls, who rose to follow him. They were going to the dungeon to get some last minute training in before the boss raid the next day. With any luck, the second floor would be open to them before they went to sleep tomorrow.


	2. The Early Floors

SAO A Different Story

AN: The biggest problem I have writing this fanfic is that it isn't the one I want to write. I've got a massive SAO & Skyrim crossover that I'm working on, but I need the backstory of SAO slightly modified for what I envision. So I need to write the SAO and ALO arcs before I can truly begin the story that I want. Hence, the early chapters will seem rushed and half-assed, because they are.

Disclaimer: I don't own SAO, wish I did.

* * *

 **A Different Story**

 **Chapter 2- The Early Floors**

The raid group stood outside the boss room, each party grouped around their respective leaders.

"All right, people. Here we go!" shouted Diavel as he slowly pushed the massive doors open. The players cautiously entered the room, weapons at the ready and shields up. Kirito and 'his girls'- as Argo jokingly referred to them as- were bringing up the rear of the group. Their job was to deal with the minions that Illfang spawned. As such, Kirito was flanked by Asuna and Argo to his sides, with Lisbeth a few steps behind him. As the first few Ruin Kobold Sentinels approached, Kirito and Asuna split left to handle the first one, while Argo and Lisbeth took another. Despite only working together as a group for a few days, their teamwork was nearly flawless. Kirito would dash in and strike the enemy with his twin swords, then parry the counter and switch with Asuna who would finish the kobold off with rapid stabs from her rapier. Meanwhile, Lisbeth would stun and stagger her enemy with heavy blows from her mace, allowing Argo to slip behind the stunned enemy and deal critical strikes with her clawed gauntlets. By the time Illfang was reduced to his last HP bar, Kirito's party had accounted for a quarter of the slain kobolds, with the other 42 players accounting for the rest.

"Leave this to me!" Diavel shouted as he sprinted towards the roaring kobold lord. Everyone watched as Illfang threw aside his shield and halberd, before reaching behind him and pulling out a sword.

'OH SHIT! Kirito and Argo thought in unison. Both recognized that weapon as a nodachi from the higher floors of the Beta, and realized that Diavel had no idea what was about to happen. The moron was about to die risking his life for the Last Attack Bonus.

"Get back!" Kirito screamed at Diavel as he started rushing towards the now stationary 'knight'. Diavel was too busy watching in fear as Illfang bounced off of several pillars before leaping towards him with the aim of slashing him in half. Diavel was struck three times before Kirito managed to intercede between Diavel and Illfang's blade. The two players were thrown back with the force of the last strike of the combo.

Shouts of "Kirito!" and "Ki-bou!" reached his ears as he stood from where he landed next to the raid leader. Kirito noticed that his health had dropped significantly, almost into the yellow, while Diavel was left with only a few slivers of red.

Kirito looked up to see the girls appear at his sides, weapons held ready. He gave them each a small smile before he asked, "Are you ready to finish this?" His girls each nodded, before the four took off towards Illfang in their previous diamond formation. Those watching the fight stared in awe as three blurs sped around the massive kobold while the fourth pounded away with a mace. The awestruck players were broken from their distraction by a large man wielding a massive warhammer.

"What are you lads waiting for? Are we gonna let a bunch of kids do all the work?" Feeling a new confidence, the rest of the raid party let out shouts and battle cries as they swarmed the boss.

Minutes later, Illfang exploded into pixels as Kirito's swords cleaved him in two after a brutal double downward slash. The raid group was cheering loudly as Kirito closed the message box informing him of his Last Attack Bonus. The revelry was cut short as a cactus haired player started shouting at Kirito.

"You cheater! You knew what it was going to do! You almost let Diavel die and you stole the last attack bonus!"

The mentioned Diavel was getting back to his feet, and was about to argue that Kirito had saved his life when the player, who Kirito remembered was named Kibaou, resumed yelling.

"You probably learned it in the Beta! You're a Beta tester, and a cheater! You- you Beater!"

Some of cactus head's friends started echoing the sentiment, but Kirito just sighed and looked at Kibaou with a disappointed look.

"Are you quite finished?" he said in an almost bored manner. The murmurs of the other players quickly quieted. "Because if you insist on being a total moron, I'll simply leave. Of course I knew what was going to happen. That last weapon was a nodachi, not a talwar. I saw it on higher floors. I was one of the best damn Betas there was. And as for cheating, where did you get the information on most of this floor from in the first place?"

"Beta players who shared the information," Argo helpfully chimed in. But Kirito was on a roll, and didn't give the opposition time to respond.

"And who lead the raid group, knew about the Last Attack Bonus, and stupidly risked his life trying to get it?" When the other players heard this, they gasped and glanced to Diavel, who had a sheepish look on his face and was pointedly looking at the ground. "And lastly, who saved his sorry ass when the boss was about to kill him?"

"Another Beta player." This time it was Asuna who answered. She could see the point Kirito was making, and didn't mind helping get the last word over the other players. It would surprise her to realize it, but her point of view was already shifting towards an "Us and Them" perspective, with the "Us" being the four who shared Kirito's apartment and his glorious bath. It was amazing how the little things could affect one so much.

"Exactly," Kirito continued, unaware of the slowly tightening circle of females that surrounded him. "The Betas are stuck here just like you, and we're pulling our weight trying to make it out of this death game just like you are. So stop being a selfish loser and grow up." Kirito turned to his three companions as he opened his menu and equipped his new Coat of Midnight. "Come on girls, let's head out." The effect his new trench coat billowing as he turned while it materialized was more than a little badass, in the opinion of several players.

Kirito and his girls walked confidently up the stairs to the second floor and headed for the first town to unlock the floor's portal.

* * *

"So what now?" Asuna asked as the party of four walked away after having activated the second floor portal.

"Well, there are a few unique opportunities on this floor. There's a quest for the martial arts skill over in the mountains, the field boss between us and the Labyrinth, and several rare crafting materials available," Argo listed off as she flipped through her notes. One of the reasons Argo made a great information broker was that she had a prodigious memory. She had rewritten from memory most of her notes from the Beta, which is where the basis of the Beginner's Guidebook that was handed out for free in shops came from. In actuality, Argo was the one who assembled and assimilated all the information into the book, but a large portion of information had been provided by Kirito during the Beta. Argo's notes on higher floors especially were thanks to Kirito.

"What would you suggest first, Argo?" spoke Kirito.

"Well, none of us girls could really make use of the martial arts skill with our fighting styles, but you should go for it. It would be a shame to let the unique skill go to waste," 'or to another player,' Argo added in her head. While it wasn't all that valuable to them, Argo wanted at least one of the party members to gain the unique skill, if only to prevent someone else from acquiring it. Was it greedy and selfish? Yes. Did she care? Not all that much.

"To the mountains it is then. Then we can gather the materials for Lisbeth to upgrade our weapons." Agreement was echoed from the girls, so Kirito led the way to the mountains that the party could see in the distance.

The quest turned out to be more frustrating than it was worth. Kirito had to deal with muttered giggles of 'Kiriemon" for three days as he did nothing but punch the gigantic rock outside the old man's hut. Eventually the rock broke, and Kirito was able to get the whiskers removed. When teased by the girls over the fact that he didn't like the whiskers, he offhandedly commented,

"They look much better on Argo than they do on me." Had he been paying attention, he would have noticed her face light up with blush as the other girls giggled even more. But Kirito was busy moving his newly acquired skill into his new slot, and failed to realize the seeds for his eventual downfall had just been planted.

The rest of the time spent on the second floor was used for slaying untold numbers of mobs and building up a large supply of materials and Col. If this were the real world, the local Wind Wasp population would likely have never recovered. Ten days after the floor was opened, the second floor's boss is defeated and the third floor opened.

* * *

"Are you sure it's around here?" shouted Lisbeth as she was helped up by Kirito. The group had been trudging around through the forest for hours in search of a quest that Argo wanted to do. According to Argo, the npc they had to kill to start the quest had never been successfully defeated before the other npc, named Kizmel, used a sacrificial move killing both npcs. Parts of the quest required the player to head near where the guild creation quest led. The girls insisted that they complete that quest, so this was the chance to kill two birds with one stone.

The four players trekked along for another hour before hearing the sounds of steel clashing. They picked up their pace, eventually coming to a small clearing in which they could see an unnamed forest elf fighting the dark elf Kizmel. Both npcs were wearing elaborate armor, and their equipment hinted at their high levels that didn't belong on the current floor. Without warning, the group leapt from the underbrush and attacked the forest elf in the same pattern they used on the first floor boss. Within twenty minutes, Kirito and Argo stood gaping open-mouthed as Kizmel thanked the group for their assistance, and proceeded to tell Asuna and Lisbeth about the ongoing war between the forest and dark elves.

"Ne, Ki-bou. Did we really just do that?" asked Argo. She was rather shocked that their group had managed to defeat the other npc without taking enough damage to activate the suicide magic that the npcs possessed. No-one had heard of anyone ever managing to do that. Groups of five and some of six had tried during the Beta, and still both elves had died.

"Well, we did manage to finish off a boss with that attack formation. And nobody had our unique combination before. You, Asuna and I have to be some of the fastest players in the game, and we're several levels ahead of where players normally are by this point," Kirito replied, which was true. Players were considered high leveled if they were level 10 by the third floor, while everyone in Kirito's party were level 15 at least. Kirito and Argo were level 16 due to starting their leveling sooner, but the other two girls were catching up quickly.

"Hey you two, Kizmel invited us back to the Dark Elf base to return the key that the other elf stole. Is this the next part of the quest? Um, guys? What's with that look?"

After they had been informed that their group had done something that had never happened before, Asuna and Lisbeth were just as incredulous as the other two had been. But that didn't stop the group from escorting Kizmel back to her base, nor did it deter them from continuing the Elf War campaign. The four were quite surprised when Kizmel decided to accompany them, but her presence easily became just another piece of their new normality.

The group ran into Cactus Head and his cronies while hunting the spider queen for the elves. It turned out that Kibaou was trying to complete the quest required to form a guild. Kirito and co. ended up slaying the spider queen several times after waiting for her tow respawn, which took three hours. They needed to slay her once for the guild formation quest, and once for the Elf War quest. The other times were to gain crafting materials such as Spider Silk and Poison Fangs. Overall, the third floor was another profitable time for Kirito's group, the newly dubbed guild Diamond Blades. Asuna and Lisbeth had come up with the name from the formation that they commonly used, with them charging and surrounding their enemies in a diamond pattern. Kirito personally didn't think it was a very awe inspiring name, but when prompted he admitted he couldn't come up with anything that didn't have to do with his trademark black colored gear. SO the name stuck, and the Diamond Blades moved on to the fourth floor.


	3. Blades, Bowmen, and Black Cats

SAO A Different Story

AN: A short chapter, due to a significant time-skip between this chapter and the next.

Disclaimer: I don't own SAO, wish I did.

* * *

 **A Different Story**

 **Chapter 3- Blades, Bowmen, and Black Cats**

As the Diamond Blades shuffled their way out of the boss room of the 25th floor, they heaved a collective sigh. It was one part exhaustion, one part relief, and one part sadness. Well over two dozen players had died at some point during the boss fight. The leader of the group from the Aincrad Liberation Squad had gotten many of his members killed, and it didn't surprise any of the four players that it had been the cactus head, Kibaou, who had idiotically charged the boss. The main force had arrived in time only to save the remains of the decimated force, and even then they took more losses.

The guild of five walked a short way away from the boss room exit, before sliding down to the base of some tree trunks and simply resting their tired bodies. The Diamond Blades had added Kizmel shortly after the Elf War campaign had ended on the ninth floor. Despite her being an npc, she seemed extremely lifelike, and was even able to join parties and guilds, as learned by Kirito after he invited her to the guild at her request. If it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't be added to their friends list, the players would have eventually forgotten she wasn't even human. Other players had inquired as to their elfin member, but Argo deflected any questions by saying it was a quest related npc for a unique quest they had discovered. Kizmel seemed so human, sometimes, that Kirito wondered if the Cardinal system that ran SAO hadn't evolved some low level AIs and included them into the game.

Eventually the guild returned to their feet and made their way to the town. They needed to restock on healing potions and crystals, and their gear was in desperate need of repair.

* * *

"No, no, no. Sachi, you need to press forward. You're using a shield; you need to stay in front. It does no good to try and block attacks that have already hit your comrades," Asuna reminded the nervous girl. Their guild had encountered the Moonlit Black Cats guild out training, and had happily offered advice and training. Taking a break from the front lines for a few days was doing a world of good for their morale. They had led the Moonlit Black Cats to a dungeon that was just above their average level, and watched over them as they fought tougher opponents than they normally did.

"Don't worry, Sachi. We're right here watching your back. If you get into trouble, we'll be there in no time at all," Kirito promised as his swords dispatched another golem.

Sachi seemed to stand a little straighter under Kirito's gaze, confident that he would protect them like he said. Argo noticed this and chuckled. Kirito had the same effect on all the girls around him, even the lone npc of the group. It was as if they couldn't help but do their best when he was looking. The fact that the girls in his guild all had crushes on him, once again including the npc, may have had something to do with it. Copious amounts of time were spent having late night girl talks while Kirito was sleeping on the couch.

While Asuna called out combinations for Sachi and Argo contemplated solutions to their multiple crushes for Kirito, said swordsman stopped Ducker from opening what was an obviously trapped chest. Suddenly appearing room with one entrance and naught but a lone chest inside? So obviously a trap is Kirito felt hurt that someone almost fell for it.

Training continued, with the trainee guild eventually teleporting back to town, leaving the Blades to grind mobs for Col and material. Kirito went back to the trapped room and purposefully set of the trap, making short work of the summoned monsters alongside Asuna. Had anyone inquired as to their levels, they would be astonished to find that the entire party was level 45.

After spending several more hours in the dungeon, the group was walking back to the town when they heard sounds of fighting nearby. Lisbeth led the way over the crest of the nearby hill, and the party saw a sight that they hadn't expected. There were two players fighting against a pack of wolves, but that wasn't what they were startled by.

One of the players had a bow. Argo had heard rumors that there was a hidden archery skill, similar to the martial arts skill, but they had been unconfirmed. It appeared as if the rumors turned out to be true. Turning their eyes to the other player, Asuna and Kirito admired the player's swordsmanship. She was wielding a one-handed longsword, but fought holding it with both hands. The group watched as the pair finished of the last of the wolves before approaching. It turned out that the girls' names were Sinon and Yuuki. Asuna chuckled a bit when Yuuki was introduced. The girl though she was being made fun off, until Asuna mentioned that her last name was actually Yuuki in real life. That brought forth several chuckles from the group.

As everyone but Kirito started chatting and swapping stories, the black clothed swordsman stared up at the cloudless night sky and sighed. He didn't know what is was with girls, but they couldn't help but travel in packs. He had no doubts in his mind that the girls would invite Sinon and Yuuki to join their guild. As far as Argo was concerned, Sinon was unique, and uniqueness was to be collected and hoarded. For Asuna, having another sword wielding female was a joy. Kirito sighed again, something he was sure he'd be doing often.

A shriek of " _You have a BATH!?_ " echoed around the hills, as Kirito simply muttered a 'told you so' to himself and turned to invite the pair to the guild.


	4. Dragons, Coffins, and Dangerous Women

SAO A Different Story

AN: Almost to the good stuff.

Disclaimer: I don't own SAO, wish I did.

* * *

 **A Different Story**

 **Chapter 4- Dragons, Coffins, and Dangerous Women**

A grumbling and frowning Kirito followed his girls as they led the teary-eyed youth back to the town. The guild had been hunting the orange guild Titan's Hand when they stumbled upon a young dragon tamer and her recently deceased familiar. Argo had immediately mentioned a way to revive said familiar, and thus a trip to the 47th floor was planned for the morrow. The fact that an eavesdropper from the guild they were after overheard their plans to acquire the rare item was simply a bonus.

Thus, when half a dozen players leapt from behind trees to ambush the black swordsman and the small girl by his side, they weren't expecting blades to be held to their throats form behind by a group of heavily armed and dangerous looking females. Silica was extremely grateful to 'Kuro no Kenshi-sama' and his companions for helping her, and the girls decided that since she wasn't going back to her old party that she was obviously joining theirs.

Thus, the Diamond Blades grew to eight players, and Argo had another name to tease Kirito over. It wouldn't be uncommon in the near future to find her jokingly calling Kirito 'Kenshi-sama', shortly after pestering Sinon with 'Sinononon'.

* * *

Silica stared skyward as the behemoth of white and blue flew overhead. 'Pina is much cuter, and less frightening,' she thought and X'rphan the White Wyrm soared past. Kirito and Lisbeth were down below gathering a rare material called Crystallite, which also happened to be the excrement from the dragon that the rest of the group were fighting. X'rphan didn't drop anything valuable at all when killed, and in fact wasn't even worth the effort financially, but they needed to distract him from his nest so that Kirito and Lisbeth could dig for more of the valuable ore.

Sinon fired another arrow towards the dragon, this time catching it in the eye, as it swiped at her. She dove out of the way as X'rphan roared and slammed into the ground, half-blinded by pain an arrow and in serious pain. Sinon was perfectly happy spending time sending arrow after arrow at the beast. Lisbeth had crafted her a bow using a higher leveled version of the Spider Silk from the spider queen the Blades had fought ages ago, and had made the frame out of bone from the Geocrawler that Asuna had led the fight against on this very floor.

"They're clear! Fall back outside the anti-crystal field and teleport back!" Sinon heard shouted by Asuna. The archer let loose one last arrow into X'rphan's remaining eye, smirking with more than a hint of sadistic glee at his roar of pain. She really enjoyed her new weapon, and the short sword that she would receive from one of the many ingots would make a wonderful backup.

* * *

The mass of assembled players were silent as they marched along, the halls echoing eerily with the sound of their boots. Today was the day that the red guild Laughing Coffin would meet its end. Kirito had first heard tell of the guild helping Silica revive Pina, as Titan's Hand had made a few dealings with them. Then he and Asuna had recently completed an investigation of a mysterious murder that it turned out the guild had been involved with. The clearers had spent countless hours tracking down clues and information on the notorious guild, and eventually they had found someone who wanted to defect the guild. The player was a green player, and had been forced to join after being saved form monsters by the guild. They knew where the guild's base was, and was more than happy to tell those wishing to know. The clearers organized a force of over fifty high leveled players to assault the base where their informant claimed the guild was. There was no way that the guild could resist against them today.

'So much for that idea,' thought Kirito, as his blades crossed with a manic-looking axe wielder, his thoughts unconsciously echoed by the rest of his guild. The red players had been tipped off by someone, most likely a traitor on the crusade team itself. Kirito would have time to wonder about the how and why of it all sometime later. Right now his attention was focused on the tip of an estoc that was rapidly moving towards Sinon. She was using her shorts word, which she was much less skilled at than her bow, as her bow was too unwieldy in the current environment's cramped corridors. The slight disadvantage she was at was more than enough for one of the members of Laughing Coffin to sneak up and stab her through the shoulder.

Sinon fell backwards with a cry as her sword fell from her hand. The estoc wielder pulled his arm back for another strike, and Kirito could almost imagine the look of triumph on the player's face as he prepared to strike down one of the infamous Blades. Kirito's girls were just as famous as he was, each being powerful and skilled in their own right. But as the pointed tip of the sword started to inch forward, one thought crystalized in Kirito's mind.

He was responsible for their safety, not only as their guild leader, but as their friend and the one they all looked up to. They constantly referred to the group as Kirito's girls. _Kirito's_. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, they were _his_. And he'd be damned if he let a murdering bastard take one of them away from him.

Kirito lunged forward, His sword arcing from behind him towards the enemy player. The needle tip was moving forward towards Sinon's eye, and his sword arm was on the other side of his body from Kirito. There was nothing Kirito could do to stop the weapon's movement. He had no other choice, but all things considered, he concluded that it was very much worth it.

Sinon had barely a few seconds to contemplate her fate as the needle-like weapon sped closer. Her dawning look of horror lasted a split second, before one of confusion followed by shock took its place. A blade had swiped straight through the neck of the man about to kill her. Her confusion over why she hadn't died faded as the tip of the estoc missed her face by inches as the body wielding it fell and shattered into polygons. Next was the shock from following the blade responsible back to Kirito's hands as he stood frozen from an executed sword skill. Another member of Laughing Coffin saw an opportunity and lunged for the immobile swordsman, but he fell and gasped as his leg was sheared off at the knee and a sword sprouted through his chest. Sinon hadn't even thought, she had just reacted. Just like that, a second member of the red guild exploded into pixels, and the fight suddenly turned vicious.

The crusaders had planned on attempting to capture the guild members alive, and that had been what Kirito had been aiming to do at first. But now they had almost taken one of _his_ girls from him. The possessive connotation he felt with that word would have worried him had he been thinking rationally. As it was, he wasn't. He no longer held back against the murderous players. Three more fell within a matter of seconds, as Asuna, Argo, the rest of the girls, and several crusaders watched in shock as Kirito showed why he the strongest player in the game.

The fight was brutal, and several crusaders had lost their lives before Kirito had snapped and slaughtered the enemies that remained. Only a handful of the enemy had been captured, using combinations of paralysis poisons and teleport crystals set for the Black Iron Palace. But many more had met their fate in a burst of pixels as Kirito's blades dismembered them. The shock expressed by the other players was so great that it could almost be physically felt by those in the room.

Sinon saw how everyone was reacting, and even a few of Kirito's girls were a little nervous of approaching him. But Sinon understood. The player she killed wasn't the first life she had taken. She had been entangled in a bank robbery as a child, and had ended up killing the perpetrator by accident and reflex. So she the stares she had received then were the same ones that Kirito was receiving now. So she understood, and she provided something that no-one had provided her during her experience.

Sinon stood up from where she was kneeling on the ground, and calmly walked over to Kirito's shaking form. She sheathed her sword as she walked, and when she reached him she embraced him. Not forcefully, not smothering him. She simply held him close to her as his emotions were in turmoil. The rest of the girls immediately realized that they had been temporarily afraid of Kirito, and were heavily ashamed of themselves. They quickly put away their weapons and followed Sinon's example in comforting their mutual protector and crush.

The crusaders were a mixed basket. Some believed the murdering bastards deserved it, some were disgusted by Kirito's actions, and some were indifferent, deciding that the players were no different than enemy mobs at this point after everything they had done. Kirito's girls didn't care. They wouldn't think differently of him, and would be sure to demonstrate that as the days passed and Kirito came to terms with the fact that he had killed several dozen people, and that he honestly wasn't to upset about doing so.

For that's what had Kirito so worried. Not that he had killed, because it had been them or his girls, so the choice had been simple and straight-forward. No, what bothered Kirito was that he was able to rationalize and dismiss his actions so easily. The possessiveness he had felt when defending Sinon was something he realized that he felt towards all of his girls. Kirito concluded things were about to get really messy.

* * *

Things went back to normal much more rapidly than Kirito had expected. The other players present didn't mention the events of the raid against Laughing Coffin, so the general populace never learned of Kirito's actions, and the clearers were too wary of losing the support of one of the strongest- despite its size- guilds, and thus kept their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves.

Right now Kirito and his guild were marching out of the exit of the 74th floor's boss room. A platoon from the Aincrad Liberation Force had foolishly challenged the boss without being ready, and a handful had died before the Blades had arrived. They had been training nearby and heard the sounds of battle and screaming of other players, and quickly ran to investigate. Kirito had finished the boss with one of his recently learned Sword Skills, Starburst Stream. Kirito had been using two swords since the very first floor, albeit without a related skill, and had discovered that he had received the Dual Blades skill shortly after encountering the Moonlit Black Cats.

The girls of the Blades were tired, and they felt like taking a break from daily grind of slaying. They also believed it would be good for Kirito to relax a bit. So they dragged him off to the 22nd floor to buy a house that Argo knew of.

While Kirito was sleeping on the couch in the living room with Pina curled up on his chest, the girls were huddled up on one of the beds in the master bedroom, whispering.

"So we're agreed then?" asked Lisbeth.

"Yes, I believe we are," Asuna replied, looking at each individual in turn. "It was inevitable that something like this would happen. There were too many of us, and the choice would have been painful for the others. Are you sure that it will work, Argo?"

"Yes and no," the whiskered girl said. "Can it be done? Yes. There's actually nothing stopping it, it's just that most people would never think of actually performing something like this. Will he agree to it? That's a harder question, but my gut says yes. He's done a lot for us, gone above and beyond sometimes," Argo trailed off, her mind recalling the semi-recent raid where he had killed another player- several times- in order to protect them. "And I don't think he'd be truly opposed. It's merely convention and norms that are the problem, and it's not like they really apply here in Aincrad anyway."

"We can figure out how to deal with the outside when it comes to it, but for now it's not an issue," spoke up Silica, wanting to get a few words in.

With one final round of nods, the girls rose and filed into the living room.

Kirito woke with the feeling that he was being stared at by several pairs of eyes. His eyelids pulled pack to reveal that, indeed, he was looking at the entirety of his guild arrayed before him. Asuna and Argo stood front and center, Lisbeth and Silica beside them, Yuuki, Sinon, and even Kizmel close behind them. Kirito started feeling vaguely uncomfortable with the looks he was getting.

"We have a problem," Asuna stated matter-of-factly.

"And the problem is?..." Kirito hesitantly asked. It was Kizmel who told him.

"We like you. All of us. And you haven't made it clear which of us you like back."

Kirito's unease was gargantuan at this point. 'Oh no, don't let them make me choose right now. I won't even be able to explain why I can't come up with an answer,' he thought with trepidation. He was saved from a potential deadly situation by an even more dangerous one.

"That's why you're going to marry us," Sinon said.

"All of us," added Lisbeth.

Kirito's eyes couldn't possibly have gotten any wider, and he wasn't entirely certain whether or not the NerveGear could simulate a heart attack.

* * *

AN: Almost done with Aincrad, just a few more chapters. Then a few chapters with ALO, and we'll be off to the lands of Nords and dragons with the Elder Scrolls.


	5. Who's got the Hax? HE's got the Hax!

SAO A Different Story

AN: This is what should've happened when you give a computer genius access to a command console.

Disclaimer: I don't own SAO, wish I did.

* * *

 **A Different Story**

 **Chapter 5- Who's got the Hax? HE's got the Hax!**

Kirito's response was rather unremarkable.

"Eh?" was the only noise he could make, as he wasn't entirely sure he'd heard them right. The collection of serious looks he received made him believe that he actually had. "Just to make sure I heard you right, you want me to marry all of you?" he was answered with a mass of nods, which were oddly synchronized. "O-kay then. First question, is that even possible? Secondly, why? I was under the impression that girls didn't share their guy, and society probably wouldn't agree with it either."

"Oh, it's definitely possible. There's no rules or anything against it, it's just that nobody had reason to try," said Argo.

"As for the sharing thing," Silica added, "it's not so much of a sacrifice as it is a collective bonus. You hadn't done more than hug any of us. You're a healthy teenage boy surrounded by cute girls and hadn't tried to start a deeper relationship with any of them. Either you were oblivious, which we doubt, you couldn't decide between us so decided on none of us, or you're secretly gay. You're not gay, are you?"

"NO! Most definitely not!" shouted Kirito, then he realized how quickly and vehemently he had defended himself. He sheepishly sat back down, adding, "Not that I have anything against people who are, a few of my acquaintances were and they were perfectly nice people, but I am perfectly straight, thank you very much."

"See? We all had agreed that it was almost certainly case number two, so we came to an agreement," informed Asuna. Argo nodded and continued,

"Instead of all of us getting none of you, each of us gets some of you. A win-win all around, especially for you. And quite honestly, we were all sick and tired of waiting for you to make your choice, so we made it for you."

"Don't I get any say in this?" whined Kirito.

"No," came the chorused reply.

Kirito wisely did the thing he had been doing much too often in his opinion. He gave a defeated sigh and nodded his head in acquiescence. The group squeal and tackle-hug actually drained his HP slightly, as the force of six players and one very life-like npc landing on him was not inconsiderable.

Spending time to find an npc priest to wed them wasn't even necessary, as Argo led the way to the nearby town's church. It seemed they had everything planned out ahead of time. Since they had shown that they had anticipated every other problem with the situation up to that point, Kirito wasn't even mildly surprised when Lisbeth handed him a set of matching rings that she had forged. Each ring was made of braided Crystallite and high quality steel, the gem of each one colored to match the hair of one of the girls, and each was sized appropriately for its corresponding girl. Kirito was more than a little impressed by how in depth they had planned this, but when he stopped to consider that two of the girls responsible were Aincrad's top strategist and information broker, he decided that it was par for the course, all things considered.

Now, the game itself only had programming for two people in the marriage ceremony. But it didn't actually limit the number of times one could be married, oddly enough. It was decided that Kirito would wed the girls in the order that he met them: Argo first, followed by Asuna, Lisbeth, and Kizmel- who at this point the group treated as another player, as npc or not she acted like a real person. After that were Sinon and Yuuki and, last but certainly not least, Silica. The marriage was quick and simple, and it ended with each girl coming up and kissing Kirito on the cheek, before giggling and scurrying back to join the rest of the girls. They weren't ready to do more than that yet, but they were in no rush as they had already laid claim to their man, and they planned on taking several days off from clearing the front lines to spend time exploring their new relationships.

* * *

Despite the strangeness of it all, Kirito wouldn't have changed a thing, he decided, as he sat back and watched his girls fussing over Yui. The newly-weds had been strolling through the woods around their home, simply enjoying the amazing scenery of Aincrad's 22nd floor, when Asuna had spotted a shimmer of white from her peripherals. Further observation revealed the form of a young girl in a white one-piece dress. She apparently suffered from amnesia, as she couldn't recall who she was or what she was doing on that floor all alone in the woods in the first place. What made it stranger was that the diminutive girl had no player or npc icon. While it baffled them all, the girls- minus Argo- didn't spend too much time worrying about it. Because come on, their guild included an npc who was married to Kirito. They had dealt with stranger things than a missing character marker.

Asuna, Lisbeth and Yuuki had been smitten at once with the young girl's cute and innocent look, and had declared that the group was going to take her in and take care of her until they could find out whom she belonged to. The shy little girl had been overjoyed by the attention that Kirito's collection of females gave to her. She was doted on as if she were their real daughter, which Argo found incredibly ironic as the girl looked as if she were actually Kirito and Asuna's child. She had Asuna's hair and face with Kirito's eyes and hair color. When Argo pointed out those entirely coincidental facts to the group, it had led to them jokingly referring to Asuna and Kirito as Yui's mother and father. Yui had immediately proclaimed her approval of that idea, which led to more sighing from Kirito and the group more or less 'adopting' the girl.

After two days of smothering the dangerously cute girl- Kirito swore her pouty face and smile were lethal weapons- in affection, the group agreed that even if they planned on keeping her, they should probably check to see if they could find out more about her past and missing memory. A trip to the Town of Beginnings to visit the matron of the orphanage was put in the schedule.

* * *

Walking through the starting city with Yui riding on his shoulders and gazing about in awe at the sights, Kirito led the party towards the orphanage. Their journey was interrupted when they came across members of the Aincrad Liberation Force trying to forcibly recruit several kids into the guild.

"Papa," Yui asked innocently, "what are those mean people doing? They look like they're scaring the other kids."

"Don't worry, Yui. Asuna and the girls will take care of it. Why don't you and I continue our walk while they teach these bad people some manners?"

"Okay, papa! Bye, mama! By other mamas! See you later!"

The girls smiled and waved at the adorable girl as she and Kirito disappeared around the corner, before they turned to the suddenly not-so-confident 'soldiers'. The beating that ensued was not fit for reading, and the screams for mercy would never be forgotten by those who were close enough to hear. It was only by the grace of the Safe Zone that the recipients of the beating didn't lose a point of health, despite the utter thrashing they received. Whether they were damaged or not, the sight of seven angry women charging them with deadly weapons had caused the players to temporarily forget they were in no danger of dying. It would be a while before they remembered that little tidbit.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Yui had arrived at the orphanage and talked with Sasha, but unfortunately found no information which revealed anything about Yui's past. When Kirito and Yui met back up with the girls, they found them discussing a rescue mission with a woman named Yulier, who had seen them rather brutally beat the Aincrad Liberation Force members. Rather than be upset over her guild mates fates, she requested their help in rescuing a man named Thinker, who had been trapped by everyone's favorite Cactus Head in a hidden high-level dungeon. It was unanimously decided that they would rescue the man, as Argo and Silica easily deduced that Yulier held affection for Thinker. The girls were extremely happy with how their own romance was doing, and were sold on the idea of reuniting a lost love.

The initial journey went rather smoothly, with the only enemies being more annoying than anything else. When they were within sight of the Safe Room that Thinker was trapped in, a massive reaper-like boss named The Fatal Scythe appeared. Kirito sent Yulier on a run to the Safe Room with Yui in her arms, telling her to use the teleport crystal he'd given them to escape with Thinker. Despite the teamwork and skill shown by the Diamond Blades, even their trademark Spinning Diamond formation was unable to defeat the monster. Its health and stats were too great to overcome, and it pushed the Blades back until most of them were in the red. Just when it looked like they weren't going to make it out and Kirito prepared to tell his wives to run while he held it off for a few final moments, their fate was changed.

Little Yui, who had escaped the grasp of Yulier and refused to teleport back without her Mamas and Papa, stepped in front of the fallen warriors, and raised a massive fiery sword that she had conjured. As she blocked the almost assuredly fatal blow, a small dialogue box popped up and informed the group that Yui was somehow an Immortal Object. One swipe from the Object Eraser sword later, The Fatal Scythe was no more, and a tearful Yui was hugging her adoptive parents and explaining to them how she had regained her memory. After the shocked group had moved to the safe room and collected their bearings, they were shocked again as Yui started to say her goodbyes, as she informed them that Cardinal was about to delete her for breaking from her programming and she was now considered a corrupt program.

While the girls were crying and embracing the girl they had all come to love as a daughter, Kirito was busy typing away on the command console that Yui had used to restore her memory. He had found to his delight that Yui was still logged in with her admin credentials which, as a piece of Cardinal, were on the same level as Kayaba's. His fingers were flying furiously, swiping windows and typing characters. A short while later, he smiled smugly and sat back to observe his family, for that's what they were now, as they continued to hug Yui and cry. It was almost five minutes later when one of the girls, nobody was sure who mentioned it first, wondered aloud why Yui hadn't been deleted yet. Not that they were complaining, but they had all been bawling their eyes out for quite some time, and it was rather anticlimactic now if something was going to happen. Then Yuuki looked over to Kirito, who she couldn't recall seeing in the group farewell hug, and noticed his superior and smug smile. She was just about to yell at him for being heartless and not worried about his daughter being deleted, when she realized that he in fact really wasn't at all worried about her being deleted. Suspicious, she gave him _The Look_ , and asked,

"Kirito-kun, what exactly did you do?" Because to Yuuki, it was obvious by now that Kirito had indeed been responsible for Yui's non-disappearance. The girls slowly came to the same realization, and collectively looked to Kirito with hope shining in their eyes.

"Well, as you are all aware by now, I was very much into computers and programming before this entire thing happened. I may not have done any programming since this started, but knowing your way about a computer is very much like riding a bike," Kirito said. He was tempted to skirt around the bush a bit, but the looks he was getting told him to get to the point and explain himself. "Fine, fine. Sheesh, don't give me that look. I basically took Yui's files and moved her to a new location in the system. Cardinal was looking to delete the MHCP001 program files, so I made sure that it did. The fact that a random mob on the 33rd floor was recently renamed MHCP001 wasn't a fact that Cardinal was aware of. Yui's files are now backed up on my NerveGear, which is directly connected to my computer, and she had been renamed KY001, or Kirigaya Yui zero-zero-one."

The smug smile on his face as he said all of this was quickly replaced with horror as he was subjected to another mass tackle-hug, this time with one additional smaller body added in.

* * *

On a separate and entirely unrelated note, Klein and his guild Fuurinkazan stumbled their way into a random bar on the 33rd floor, loudly bantering and insulting each other. They had just returned from a long night slaying mobs, and could use a drink and some rest. They had been fighting several packs of wolves at once when the alpha wolf had leaped at Klein and knocked him down. The animal's jaws were descending towards Klein's vulnerable throat when its name bar blurred and shifted, and it suddenly dissolved into pixels. Klein had at first boasted about some new power he must have had, before one of his guild mates loudly proclaimed that the wolf had been killed by Klein's extreme body odor from being in such close contact with him. This had led to increasing jokes against Klein's state of cleanliness and manliness, as well as completely distracting the guild from the event that had started the joking in the first place.


	6. The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

SAO A Different Story

AN: Now we're done with SAO, and we're only left with ALO. Then it's off to the land of the ice and snow, with the midnight sun where the hot springs flow.

Disclaimer: I don't own SAO, or Led Zeppelin, wish I did.

* * *

 **A Different Story**

 **Chapter 6- The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men**

Again, Kirito's response was rather unremarkable.

He watched as Asuna dove in front of Kayaba's blade, and her form shattered into pixels. Then as he stood staring at where one of his beloved wives had vanished, the man responsible for all the deaths in that virtual hell got tired of waiting for a response from the broken and beaten swordsman in front of him, and ran him through as well. As the clearers watched in shock and cried out in vain as two of the unstoppable Diamond Blades, two of the best players in the game, were cut down by the evil mastermind responsible for everyone's suffering, a round of sarcastic clapping could be heard coming from the entrance to the 75th floor boss room.

 _Clap, clap, clap._

"Well done, Kayaba-san. You managed to best the strongest player in the game. Albeit while he was exhausted, half-dead, and it was with a combat system that you know backwards and forwards; but really, what's the difference?"

Oddly enough for the theatric moment, every single player present had a perfect view of the entrance, despite being paralyzed and being unable to turn their heads. What they saw utterly shocked them.

Standing there as if he hadn't just been killed and deleted was Kirito, with a small girl riding on his shoulders. Arrayed about him were the rest of the members of the Diamond Blades, who were somehow un-paralyzed and at full health. Even Asuna was there, smirking defiantly at Kayaba, also looking surprisingly not-dead. The look of utter confusion on Kayaba's face would be laughed over for days, but it quickly morphed into one of anger and determination as he swiped his hand to bring up his command menu.

And swiped his hand to bring up his command menu.

And swiped again.

And again.

All the while the little girl sitting atop Kirito's shoulders grinned triumphantly, before she stuck her tongue out at the man in a cute and childish fashion. Kirito laughed again as Kayaba grew more and more incandescent with rage at his inability to access and control the system. When he looked up with hate filled eyes at Kirito, Asuna decided to take pity on the man and explain to him the new truths of the world.

"It's rather ironic, really, that it was you who paved the way for your own defeat. It was quite simple really. Our precious Yui here has administrator access over all of Aincrad, but she lacked the ability to affect you. You both shared equal levels of access, and she couldn't forcibly remove your power. But you could. When you accessed the command menu to paralyze us and deactivate your immortality, Yui copied and stole your login credentials. You now have the same access level as a regular player, and the stats and reflexes to match. No more System Assist for you," she said as she grinned ferally.

"And no more playing God either," added Sinon. "You claimed that this was your world, and you were its God. Well, it appears that one deity has just been dethroned, and replaced with a Goddess."

Yui cheerily waved at Kayaba with a cheeky grin. The man's face had reached a rather remarkable purple color at this point. Wanting to end things quickly and finally get back to the real world, Kirito decided to finish the explanation.

"It's really quite simple, Kayaba. Yui has, for the past two weeks, been renaming random mobs with the names of players who were about to die and then teleporting the players to the black iron palace. Nobody looks there, and she made sure the accommodations were superior to those of its usual occupants. Then the system would delete the mob instead of the player, and nobody would be the wiser." Asuna had been the one to come up with that trick, recalling how it had been used against them during their brief murder investigation. "It was a simple matter to rename the players' files with a simple '1' at the end to fool Cardinal into deleting the mob instead of the player. And since the mob had no brain to fry, every death within the last two weeks has been faked, and all the players are still alive."

The players who had originally been furious with the Blades for taking such a long time away from the front lines and totally blowing off the preparations for the boss fight until the clearers had practically demanded that they show up, suddenly realized why the game's top guild had been acting so carefree. They had successfully hacked the game, and had totally emasculated Kayaba.

"The only thing we couldn't do was release the players from the game; for that we needed your credentials specifically, which you have just recently so graciously provided. And now that we are in control, or more precisely Yui is, it's time to say goodbye and return to the real world," came Lisbeth's voice.

"Yui, if you would do the honors?" asked Kirito. While they had debated who should do the deed, it had eventually been Yui who had demanded the right. As she so simply put it, 'He tried to hurt my mamas and papa, I want to do it.' Between the combined force of her puppy dog eyes and newly emerged bloodthirst, she convinced her parents to let her get the final swing at Kayaba.

The last thing Kayaba saw was a large and fiery Object Eraser swinging straight for his face.

After the resulting pixel explosion subsided, the players in the room could be seen slowly fading into particles as Aincrad started to come apart at the seams around them. Kirito turned and gave Kizmel a hug and a kiss on the lips after settling Yui on her shoulders.

"See you soon," she said, as she and Yui waved goodbye to their family as the strongest guild in the game, the Diamond Blades, the heroes of Aincrad, dissolved into particles. As the floor under their feet cracked and crumbled, they, too, faded away.

* * *

Kirigaya Kazuto awoke to an incessant beeping noise and an utterly parched throat. He slowly and painfully raised his arms to remove the NerveGear from his head, his eyes following the cord attached over to his computer. He smiled happily as he saw a small window pop up in the lower corner, showing a smiling and waving Kizmel and Yui. He hadn't known his computer was still attached to his NerveGear until he had tried moving Yui's data files into it. His hard drive had shown up as an extension of his headgear.

As it turned out, the medics that moved him to the hospital had been reluctant to disconnect the computer, worried of any unforeseen consequences it may or may not cause in doing so. The doctors had agreed, and had instead left it plugged in and ensured that it stayed charged by connecting it to the wall outlet.

So when Kirito discovered that he could access his computer through the console, he had spent an entire day coding in his little plan to outsmart Kayaba. Yui retained her administrator access, and Kirito recoded several lines to ensure that it wouldn't be revoked and she wouldn't be deleted or attempted to be again. He then moved both Yui and Kizmel's files onto his laptop, as he had found in the code while searching for a way to end the game what Kayaba had planned for after the game was cleared. Aincrad would self-destruct, which would have terminated Yui and Kizmel, but not anymore, as they were safely in Kirito's computer. When it was determined that it was impossible for them to escape without Kayaba's admin access, they decided to switch out dying players with renamed mobs until the game could be cleared. They hadn't expected to have Kayaba practically hand them the keys to the kingdom as he had.

The fact that Yui had been observing her parents through the system from a newly installed command console in their 22nd floor house's living room, and that she just happened to notice Kayaba use the command console, was simply a streak of good luck. Yui had immediately inserted a line of code to intercept and copy Kayaba's credentials, which she used to remove the admin access from those credentials, but not before granting the same level as he had to herself and her parents. Then she merely had to teleport in during the distraction of Kirito and Kayaba's duel and free her parents while informing them of her accomplishment. Asuna and Argo came up with a plan immediately, and Sinon added in the theatricality aspect. All in all, the day had been a massive success, all because Kayaba foolishly believed that he still held the power.

Kazuto couldn't help but give a small smile as he beheld the two forms in the screen on his computer. He managed to struggle to his feet, before walking to his computer. He typed a message to the two that he would be back soon, that he had to find the girls, before he performed one more protection measure for his two virtual family members. Kirito's computer had access to the hospitals free wireless connection, so Kirito started an upload of Yui and Kizmel's files to his cloud server. No self-respecting computer fanatic relied simply on hardware anymore. Physical things could be broken. The cloud storage he used would only be terminated if the server's physical structure, which was housed somewhere deep underground near Tokyo, was somehow damaged. The likelihood of that happening before Kirito could find an even safer way to protect the two's files was virtually zero.

With the upload started and his mind at ease, Kirito struggled back to his feet, before leaning against his IV pole as he shuffled off down the hall towards the nurse's station.

* * *

"I understand that you want to see your friends as soon as you can, Kirigaya-san, but patient confidentiality is just that, confidential. I'm sorry, I can't help you," said the nurse as Kazuto was led back to his room by the flustered nurse. Several thousand patients suddenly awakening from comas added a significant amount to her workload.

Kazuto was sitting sullenly on his bed when his grumbling was interrupted by a very weak "Kiri-bou". He turned to the doorway and saw a short statured girl with brown hair and eyes being led by a tall man with short black hair and spectacles. While it was a bit difficult to recognize her physically with her frail and emaciated form, there was only one person who called him by that name. Kirito graced her with a small smile.

"Argo-chan, good to see you IRL. I tried asking the nurse to let me see the others, but she turned me away." As he said this, Argo gained her usual smirk, which though subdued, still let Kirito know that she had a solution.

"Kirito, meet my dad, Kikuoka Seijirou. He used to work in the JSDF, and was recently put in charge of the Sword Art Online Case Victims Rescue Force. He's the one who was in charge of moving everybody into hospitals and ensuring we weren't disconnected. He has access to the files of where everybody is."

"But how did they get their real names from their player names?" Kirito asked with a smile. It was fitting that Argo seemed to have a father that shared a similar set of skills as her own.

"They didn't. Nobody can make those two lists line up. But some people were easy to find. A few searches on the syllables 'ki-ri-to' eventually led to one Kirigaya Kazuto. You're actually attempt number twelve, but the fact that you look so familiar as well as the fact that you answered to your nickname means that it's you. And I've already got leads on Asuna, Yuuki, and Sinon. Asuna told us her last name was Yuuki's first name, and it turns out that Asuna used her real first name. Yuuki Asuna is on another floor of this hospital, as are Konno Yuuki and Asada Shino. As for Lisbeth and Silica, we really should have exchanged names before we left, but we got so excited of suddenly toppling Kayaba that we completely forgot."

Kirito nodded and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at that. It was true, they hadn't exchanged names because they hadn't expected to suddenly be free, but they had taken the opportunity Kayaba accidently gave them and ran with it before thinking things through.

"Don't worry though," the senior Kikuoka spoke up. "There are plans to have all of the SAO victims that were high school level attend a special school that's opening in a few months to help them all catch up on the two years they've missed. Your friends will most likely be there, and I'm sure that you'll be able to recognize each other."

"Not that you'll have to wait that long," Argo jumped in. "I'll have the forums linking names to players before you know it. Just because we're in the real world doesn't mean I'm not still an info broker."

"Now Alice, there's no need for that. I understand that you enjoy it, but I can easily put some agents on finding the information for you," said Kikuoka-san. But Kirito didn't hear that. He had stopped listening at the second word. Argo gave him a worried look as she saw his shoulders shaking, before she saw him smiling as a giggle slipped through his clenched lips.

"Hehehe. The infamous Argo the Rat, Aincrad's ruthless and most skilled information broker, the Scissoring Claws of the Diamond Blades, is named Alice? Ahahaha!" Kirito was unable to contain his mirth, and Argo may have managed her way to the bed and attempted to punch him several times, though they were all ineffectual.


End file.
